Day in life of family Let's take a snapshot of a day in the life of family, shall we: Us: Hubby: Diligently reading Lord of the Rings. Unlike me, Hubby can still hold an attention span beyond two minutes. He started reading Fellowship of the Ring three days ago, and with a sporadic reading schedule, has progressed halfway through the book. Me: Finally finished Soul Mountain. Unlike Hubby, I can only hold my focus for two minutes unless I am glued to Photoshop. I started reading Soul Mountain a month ago, and finally finished the 500-page sucker. I am starting at Chapter 1 again, because I don't remember most of what I had read. Hubby's immediate family: Hubby's mum: Still a good cook, and has been diligently cooking excellent meals for us. Hubby's mum has become rather obsessed with the neighbors' disruptive behavior, and claimed that the neighbors have conspired to throw bits of trash on her lawn. As the in-laws live on association-controlled property, littering brings trouble. We are both concerned that mum's ability to cope with her neighbors has moved a notch toward unhealthy mechanisms. Incense and video cameras are now involved. I began the vacation by taking notes to mum's storytelling about her family and current life events, and now find that I can fluently retell the stories. This is because mum has entered the fifth or sixth reiteration of the same stories. Hubby's stepfather: Still sulking. Hides in the computer room all day, watching television and doing whatever he usually does on the computer. Comes out every few hours to tell mum what she needs to cook for him to eat. Sometimes mum would go to the computer room to check what he needed - this allowed him to have to move only about five times per day, when he goes outside to smoke. Hubby's distant family: I don't know much about Hubby's distant relatives other than brief telephone calls to overseas during Christmas. Hubby stayed in touch with his cousins throughout the year to get updates on everyone. Plus, emailing is easier and cheaper, especially when Hubby's mum would keep interrupting telephone conversations with, "Don't speak for too long! I'm paying! If you speak too long, reverse charge!" From stories that mum has told and (re- re- re-) reiterated, most of her siblings are arrogant snobs and/or religious fanatics and/or married to obnoxious men. Everyone sounds nuts. Mum is starting to sound nuts. This must be a family gene. My immediate family: My mom: I hear from my brother that her back is acting up. Other than that, she's still nuts. My dad: I have no idea, but I hear from my sister-in-law that he will visit them for Chinese New Year. Other than that, he's still living the hard life of paying back my mom's debts with the salary from his three jobs. He's probably nuts, but in secret. My brother and sister-in-law: Doing well, eating well, being parents of two extremely cute children . That's what I call the Good Life. My grandmother: Dying of diabetes, on dialysis now. My sister-in-law tells me that my mom had bought funeral attire. This is my last living grandparent, and will die of diabetes like her mother (my great-grandmother). I only have memories of how our relationship used to be, when I was a young child, which is saying very little. I feel sad that my grandmother is dying, but from how much she must be suffering from diabetes, I see death as relief for her. Gosh, what a horrible thing to say. My distant family: I don't know any of them, but I bet they are all nuts too. Conclusion: As I follow logic and what I have learned about our families, I am pretty sure that I, too, must be nuts. Copyright (c) 2001-2009 by Jane Chin, All Rights Reserved. Back to Rate of Attrition